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Self destructing Supernova explosion may wipe out earth
A STAR primed to explode in a blast that could wipe out the Earth was revealed by astronomers yesterday.That does it! I'm leaving! It will self-destruct in an explosion called a supernova with the force of 20 billion billion billion megatons of TNT. Now, datsa kaboom! New studies show the star, called T Pyxidis, is much closer than previously thought at 3,260 light-years away - a short hop in galactic terms. Right. The sights we're looking at now occurred 3,260 years ago... Risk ... impression of T Pyxidis So the blast from the thermonuclear explosion could strip away our ozone layer that keeps out deadly space radiation. Life on Earth would then be frazzled. Death and destruction have been on their way for 3,260 years, approximately the length of time from Nefertiti to our own sweet selves... The doomsday scenario was described yesterday by astronomers from Villanova University, Philadelphia, US. Did they run around at the press conference waving their hands in the air and shieking "we're all gonna die"? They said the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite has shown them that T Pyxidis is really two stars, one called a white dwarf that is sucking in gas and steadily growing. When it reaches a critical mass it will blow itself to pieces. I just hate it when things suck gas and blow themselves to pieces... It will become as bright as all the other stars in the galaxy put together and shine like a beacon halfway across the universe. Whoa! I'm shelling out for Foster Grants! The experts said the Hubble space telescope has photographed the star gearing up for its big bang with a series of smaller blasts or "burps", called novas. A friend of mine used to own a Chevy Burp... These explosions came regularly about every 20 years from 1890 - but stopped after 1967. Lemme see, here... What happened in 1967?... Elvis married Priscilla? Sergeant Pepper? American Samoa's first constitution? So the next blast is nearly 20 years overdue, said scientists Edward M Sion, Patrick Godon and Timothy McClain at the American Astronomical Society in Washington. Robin Scagell, vice-president of the UK's Society for Popular Astronomy, said last night: "The star may certainly became a supernova soon - but soon could still be a long way off so don't have nightmares." Posted by: Fred 2010-01-07 |
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